Earthling Project Part 4
by Lucy McGonagle
Summary: You know the drill...where I left off...JEREMIE IN LYOKO! EVERYBODY HIDE! lol : PLease read, enjoy and review.


Disclaim- The usual…if I owned C.L., the world would be in BIG trouble…but I do own Gilis, and all of the ideas on Jeremie's virtualization (weapon, outfit, etc)

()()()()()() Jeremie

"Step in the scanner, Jeremie."

I did so, shaking like a leaf. The other's had been okay, I tried telling my self. And this was Aelita doing the transfer. Everything would be okay…

"Scanner Jeremie…transfer Jeremie…Virtualization!"

I felt a blast of cold air, and shut my eyes. There was a strange humming sound, then it turned a buzzing as I felt as if I was being spun around and around…then-

"Ouf!"

I had landed on something cold and hard. I stood, my eyes still closed.

"Welcome to my world, _mu boinden_." My eyes shot open.

There she was, with pointed ears, dressed in the strange pink and white outfit, pink hair-virtual. Virtual beauty. I found, for a few moments, I couldn't even breathe. She just stood there, smiling, black-and-green eyes twinkling with some untold joke.

"Welcome to my world," she repeated, and I heard a snigger.

"I think he's too busy looking at you to notice the scenery."(Odd, of course.)

I blushed-or thought I did-, and looked around. Then the full impact of all of the virtual-reality hit me.

It was the weirdest, most beautiful place I had ever seen. All of it was pure white, except for the dark blue-black sky and water. I smiled wryly: Aelita had told me of the dangers of the water in Lyoko. It was acid, really. It was deadly to both X.A.N.A.'s monsters, and anyone else in Lyoko.

"Wow."

"I guess he looked around," Ulrich said, voice very dry.

'"Wow'!" Yumi echoed. "Just 'wow'?"

Just then, I heard a multiple lasers go off, and ducked just in time to see red lights wiz over my head, fast as light. Yumi cursed Japanese, something she only did when she was scared. Ulrich put a hand on her shoulder, and both tried to smile.

"Just another day in paradise," Odd said softly, then with a loud yell, all three of them jumped up, rushing toward the now on-coming roachsters.

My jaw dropped as I watched my three greatest friends fight.

They were heroes.

Even their strange, virtual forms, I could still hear Odd yelling like a commentator as he mowed down megatank after megatank with his arrows, still see Yumi's old don't-mess-with-me smirk as she hit another roachster with her oriental weapon-fan, still hear Ulrich laughing like a manic as he blew up a hornet in a single blow.

Right then, I felt very strange; half ashamed of my self for fearing this strange place, and also extremely amazed and proud. What could I do now? They were warriors- who was I?

Aelita looked at me then, smiling slightly. "If you mastered my old language, I could try to teach you how to use it," she said, her voice strangely light despite the situation. Then, kneeling down, she opened her mouth, and sang a single, eerie note. Chills went down my spine as I almost felt a movement in the air, almost a voice…

The white bridge that stood between the enemy and the five of us suddenly broke in half-a white wall of ice suddenly grew from the water-ten feet…twenty feet…thirty feet…it just kept going up. The wall of ice was glowing slightly pink around the edges… and suddenly two out of the three sets of enemies were completely defenseless, trapped by that wall of ice, unable to shoot, or get off. Aelita stood, and Odd, Yumi and Ulrich ran toward us, looking ecstatic. My mouth was still hanging open: even with all the enemies, not one of them had been wounded.

"Nice going, Aelita," Yumi said, grinning. "It is so cool to watch that." The other two-and I-nodded agreement.

"So, Einstein," Odd said, clapping me on the back. "Did you find your weapon yet? And, dude, what are you, no offence?"

I looked down at myself: light blue shirt, black pants and blue shoes; all in a strange, soft/smooth fabric that seemed to fit like skin, and yet not.

"I can answer that," Aelita said, smiling. "That is the gender-fitting version, and color marking, of what a 'boy' of my people would have worn. Blue usually signified what you might call a 'scientist'. Pink was royalty, purple: magic, green: warriors, and so on." She looked at me, and grinned. "Fits for you completely, my Jeremie." She smirked lightly, and said, a little softer, "You look quite handsome, _mu_ _boinden_. Quite handsome indeed." I blushed.

"So Einstein's a non-pointy eared version of a Lyoko dude?" Odd asked, one eyebrow raised. "Does he have magic or something?" Aelita laughed.

"Magic? No." She sobered a little, trying to look serious. "You do have a weapon. Look at your arms, Jeremie."

I did. Like Aelita, I had something like arm guards, only mine were black, and covered with short spikes.

"Make a fist with your right hand," Aelita told me. I did so, and I-and Yumi, Ulrich and Odd-gasped. A small, black and silver tube fell on the ground. The second I had picked it up and my hand closed around it, a long, black spear slide noiselessly out from each end, until the thing had become a double ended spear.

Ulrich looked almost jealous. "Dude, Jeremie…that thing is awesome. How the heck you think you're gonna use it?"

Yumi gave him a 'duh' look. "Don't you remember, Ulrich? Once we got our weapons, it was just natural? I didn't think you took swordsman lessons before we met Aelita, and I sure as heck didn't know how to throw this thing." She unfurled her fan expertly, the thing making a sound like a sword coming from a sheath. Ulrich looked sheepish.

"Oh, alright, so I forgot! Sue me!" He said, and Yumi grinned and cuffed him gently on the head.

"You are too easy," she told him, meeting his gaze.

"Reality check, you two, stop flirtin'!" Odd said suddenly, and Yumi and Ulrich looked away from each other, both smiling sheepishly. Aelita and I glanced at each other, then both looked away, trying not to laugh. Then the Princess sobered, and looked at the four of us.

"That wall won't hold the hornets, you know, once they realize how far up it goes."

This news sure as heck woke us up. With Ulrich, Aelita and I leading the way, and Yumi and Odd watching our backs for hornets. In the distance, I could just see the tower, glowing red.

"You guys! Get down!" Yumi shouted, pushing Ulrich down a little too hard. The hornets that had swooped down lifted, coming back for a second attack.

"I think I can drop on my own, Yumi," Ulrich said dryly, deflecting a laser with his sword as we stood and began to run again. Yumi grinned.

"I know. You're always falling over anyway during training," she said innocently, then ducked to avid a laser. She chucked her fan at the offending hornet, hitting it dead on. The thing blew up, and Yumi caught her fan, smirking.

"Ahh!"

A scream of pain erupted from Aelita on my right, and I spun. The Princess had a hand on her shoulder, where blue static sparkled. A few meters away, a hornet hovered, unseen by the rest of us.

Without even thinking, I threw my spear with a yell. To my utter astonishment, something like a huge, blue circle erupted from the edges of the spear. When it hit the hornet, the circle covered the thing, and it blew up with a deafening bang.

I stood, my jaw hanging open. I had just killed my first X.A.N.A. monster. Me! Jeremie! The next second, an overjoyed Aelita threw her arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek-right there, even front of Ulrich, Odd and Yumi. I felt my face warm, but I hugged her back anyway, and gladly.

"Nice shot, Einstein," Odd commented as we picked up the pace. Ulrich and Yumi nodded, and Aelita just smiled widely. I grinned at them.

"Thanks." I looked at Aelita. "What was the blue aura thing?" Aelita raised her eyebrows at me.

"You do not know what you said when you yelled?"

Yumi gasped suddenly. "I knew it sounded like a actual word…"

"In my language," Aelita added, beaming. "You said '_dornthos'_, which means something like your 'payback', or 'take that'. It always gives one an extra power boast when a weapon is used with original language."

"I did!" I asked, disbelievingly.

Aelita just nodded, then pointed to the tower. "We're almost there. Let's go."

"Hey, one problem," Ulrich panted a few moments later. "How are we gonna go to the past when Jeremie's here?"

Aelita smiled. "It can still be said. The actual 'Return to the Past, Now' event is little more than a precaution, though it is usually needed. You four will still return to the past before the X.A.N.A. attack."

"You never told me that," I mentioned, grinning slightly. Aelita shrugged as we finally slowed to a stop in front of the tower.

"You never asked. Now, follow me." Then I watched she, Ulrich, Odd and Yumi just simply melt/walk into the outer tower wall.

I hesitated, still a little on edge by the magic. Then I closed my eyes, and walked straight forward. When I opened my eyes, I was standing on a glowing blue platform, shaped like the Lyoko symbol. All around me was blue squares, covered in strange markings I couldn't read. Then, quite suddenly, I heard Aelita say clearly: "Step in the middle circle, Jeremie. We're waiting for you."

I did so, and immediately began to simply float up to a second platform I could just barely see. I closed my eyes until I felt my feet touch something, and then them opened again. There stood Aelita, Ulrich, Odd and Yumi, all grinning slightly.

"What?"

Aelita just shook her head, still smiling. Then she turned, putting her hand out in front of her. Stepping forward so I could see over her shoulder, I saw a blue cube form with her handprint. It blinked, then read her name. That to blinked then disappeared, replaced by the word 'code'. Using a keyboard I couldn't see, Aelita typed in the word 'Lyoko'. For a moment, everything froze. Then suddenly, it all turned white.

I blinked, and found myself sitting on my bed. I looked at the clock. 7:59. I felt a grin start to form on my face.

"That was awesome!" I shouted loudly, not caring who heard me. I whooped, punched the air, then lay back down on my bed, still grinning.

I had done it. I had been to Lyoko. I had helped fight X.A.N.A.

"You seem happy," Aelita's voice commented from the computer.

"Happy is an understatement," I said, smiling. Aelita laughed her musical laugh.

"I can see that." She paused, then her smile became shy. "Jeremie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving me today. From that hornet. If you hadn't gotten it, it would have shot me more than once."

I blushed. "Anything for you, Princess. _Mu boindei,_" I added, using the female version of Aelita's nickname for me. Aelita grinned.

"Oh, you," she said. Then her grin turned wicked. "I told you how smart you are. You girl-chaser you."

"AELITA!"

Chapter 14-two Earth days later-Mountain Region-Aelita

I stood on the highest cliff in the region, telling my story to the winds.

"_Ithlan torar inya nemos kei, nemos kei-" _

"Whatcha doin'?"

I smiled at Jeremie through the connection. "Telling a story."

Jeremie raised his eyebrows. "To whom?"

"The wind," I answered, grinning slightly. Jeremie's eyebrows rose higher.

"The _wind_?" he asked, disbelievingly. "And is the wind telling a story back?"

I laughed. "No, silly. 'Telling a story to the wind' is a term for remembering by speaking aloud. It's basically talking to myself, only in my old language."

"Ah," Jeremie said, as if he understood. "Now that I'm here, will you talk to me, Princess?"

"Of course, _mu boinden_. Just name a topic."

Jeremie raised an eyebrow. "Are you being pert today on purpose, dear Aelita?"

I giggled. "You sound like my sister's _boinden_, Jenden. He would say things like that. When he talked."

"Your sister had a-"Jeremie made a face, trying to pronounce the next word-"_boinden_ too? What-does falling in love run in the family or something?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. She was a romantic in disguise. I loved to tease her about it." Jeremie grinned, shacking his head.

"Now that sounds something sisters on Earth do. Or brothers. Siblings in general." Quite suddenly, his smile faded. "Aelita, I've had another dream," he told me, softly.

My mouth fell open in shock. "About Gilis?"

Jeremie nodded. "Only it wasn't technically a nightmare. It was just…weird." He shuddered.

Right then, all I wanted to do was put my arms around him. He looked so scared, so young… "Tell me what happened, Jeremie. Please. Talking about it will only help."

"I was in…it was like a palace. A virtual palace, like it could have been in Lyoko or something. I remember looking out the window, and seeing fog and floating rock formations. Some of them had buildings on them too. All the rock was kind of purple-gray." He paused, looking at me. I nodded, frowning. It sounded exactly like the region was in then: the Mountain region.

Seeing the looking of apprehension in his eyes, I gave him a warm smile. "Go on, my love."

Jeremie took a deep breath, then continued. "I was just walking down the hall…everything was white and blue and silver, with all sorts of designs on the walls and beams on the ceiling. Then I remember, I turned, and there was this dais thing. Just a platform that you could look out over. There was a girl standing there." He smiled slightly. "At first, I had thought she was you. I could only see her from the back, and she had short pink hair, like you, and those arm guard things. But she was wearing a pink and green dress. She also had two staffs-one higher than her head, and one that only came up to her waist. They were silver too, and had feathery things hanging off them, like a decoration. She was tall too. Really tall. But she wasn't beautiful, so it couldn't have been you." I smiled slightly at this. (How he could still flirt whist being scared is beyond me.)

"Did she say anything to you?" I asked, as I wracked my brain, trying to recognize his description of the person. Jeremie shook his head.

"No, she just stood there for a few minutes, then disappeared. Then-"he shuddered again-"I saw Gilis."

I grimaced, but nodded for him to keep going.

"She was sitting the wall of the dais a few feet away, looking out over the area. She was holding this little globe in her hand, like a crystal ball, only it was bronze. She had this weirdly sad look on her face, like she was actually feeling an emotion. She just kept whispering: 'the way it was, the way it was'. Then she looked at me with this evil smile, and went 'the way it was, Jeremie. It is all an illusion. It has always been an illusion. Are you real?' Her eyes went red, like demon or something. Then I woke up."

I was silent for a few moment, thinking. "It sounds to me…that palace was the fortress of the Mountain Region. You got a glimpse what my world looked like before-" I stopped, grief over coming me for a moment.

"Before X.A.N.A.," Jeremie finished for me. Then he put a hand against the screen of his computer. I put mine up to meet his, though I felt nothing. "Hey, don't cry, baby," he whispered, his voice sweet and soft. "It's okay. I don't want to see you sad." I smiled slightly in spite of myself.

"You know I cannot cry," I told him. Jeremie's eyes grew sad.

"You're crying on the inside. I can tell. So stop crying, Princess." I smiled again, feeling a little better, and Jeremie smiled too. "There we go. Now where were we?"

"That girl you saw was a lookout. A royal one, by the colors you tell me. You do remember what I told you in Lyoko?"

Jeremie nodded. "Pink is royal, green is warriors, purple is magic, blue is scientists," he told me immediately, as if he had been ready to say it all this time.

I smiled slightly, shacking my head. Jeremie looked closer at me, confused.

"What?"

I smiled wider. "Nothing, my Jeremie. You just amaze me, that's all. But, anyway, she probably could have been a distant relation, what with the hair color." Jeremie nodded, as if agreeing.

"Yeah, probably. So, that's sort of what Lyoko used to look like, right?" I nodded. Jeremie looked awed. "Wow. Now I know why you have magic. That whole place seemed magical. In that eerie way, like your singing. More ancient magic, not like the magic that most people think of here. 'The way it was'", he repeated softly.

"The way it was," I echoed. "The way it should be. Or not," I said, smiling. Jeremie raised an eyebrow in question. "We almost have something to thank X.A.N.A. for: if he hadn't destroyed my past, you, or the others, wouldn't have been in my future." Jeremie blushed, then looked at his watch.

"I hate to say this, Princess, but I have to go. All the A.P. Chemistry class, both 9th and 10th are going on a field trip." I nodded, sighing.

"I hope you have fun, Jeremie." A wicked grin appeared on his face.

"Oh, I will. All four of us are going, and it's a chemical factory in the city. I will get to bore the heck outta Odd as payback for making Kiwi wake me up yesterday." I giggled, remembering the incident. The complete racket that had sounded in Jeremie's room the other morning had shaken me out of meditation quite suddenly.

Then again, complete racket is an understatement.

()()()()Jeremie)

Fifteen minuets later-on a bus to the city

"So-where are we going again?"

Yumi, Ulrich and I exchanged exasperated glances.

"It's your turn, Yumi," Ulrich told the girl sitting next to him. "Einstein explained last time." Yumi made a face.

"Oh, fine then." She turned to Odd, who was behind her. "To a Chem. Plant, you raving lunatic. For the last time, we're going to a freaking Chem. Plant!"

Odd held up his hands. "Okay then, Ishyama. Mellow, killer. I just asked a question."

"For the tenth time," Ulrich and I said in unison. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Are we there _yet_?"

Odd gave her a look. "Now that's a stupid question. Just look out the win-mph-" any thing else he was gonna say was cut off by Ulrich's hand over his-Odd's- mouth.

"It's called a rhetorical question, Animal," I said, dryly.

"Oh, Ulrich darling!"

Ulrich moaned, hiding behind an annoyed Yumi. "What does she want now!"

Sissy half-ran, half-scuttled along the bus row until she could sit in the seat in front of Ulrich, which was unfortunately empty.

"Ulrich?"

No answer. (Wonder why…)

"Ulrich?"

"He doesn't want to talk to you, Sissy," I snapped, surprising myself, and everybody else. Sissy recovered quickly, and sneered.

"And I don't wanna talk to you, you four-eyed freak, so shut your mouth."

"Ohhhh," yelled somebody in the back. Yumi, Ulrich and Odd looked daggers at Sissy, who just smirked at them.

"Good, 'cause I wouldn't listen anyway," I retorted. Sissy leered at me, then turned her attention back to Ulrich, who now openly glared at her.

"Go away, Sissy."

The look on Sissy's face was as close to sly as she could get. "I wanna know something. From all four of you." She looked from face to face, seemingly blind to the glares she was getting. (And not just from the four of us, either…)

"What's X.A.N.A.?"

"You don't wanna know," Odd and Ulrich said together, straight faced. They were surprised, but hid it.

"Then why would I ask?" Sissy sneered. Yumi gave her a look.

"Because, number one: it isn't your business, number two: you wouldn't understand, number three: even if the first two were wrong, we wouldn't tell you anyway. Some people actually don't like being talked about, Sissy."

"Oh, snap!" shouted a voice in the back of the bus.

Sissy actually looked pained. "I just wanna know what it is! You four are always talking about it! And who's Aelita?"

"Eavesdropping again are we?" I snarled, suddenly furious. "You're more like Gilis than I thought. Rude, arrogant, cruel…the list goes on. Why don't you just go away, forget you ever heard the name X.A.N.A., which, is a game on the internet, and leave us alone!"

Silence followed this. I was just as stunned as everybody else. Where had _that_ come from?

Sissy's lower lip trembled, and she ran back to her former seat. I sank back in my seat, suddenly feeling both proud, and like a bully. _Sissy's a crybaby anyway,_ said a voice in my head. _She called me a four-eyed freak; she should get some punishment. _

Then why did I feel so bad?

Odd patted me on the back, waking me up from feeling sorry for myself.

"Nice one, Einstein," he said, grinning.

Yumi rolled her eyes at me. "So that's what Gilis is like," she said, and smiled wryly. "Maybe there's two of them. Sissy defiantly fits the bill of a lewdidly dressed, human monster."

I shuddered. "God, Yumi, that's not funny. Two Sissy's, or two Gilis's; I don't know which is worse."

"A whatily dressed human monster?" Ulrich asked Yumi, making a face.

"Like a slut," Odd answered.

"Odd!"

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Well, it's true," I told him. "But Gilis is evil; Sissy's just…never mind."

"Gilis is the one who better stop messing with our Jeremie," Yumi said, reaching over to ruffle my hair. I ducked, shaking my head.

"What's worse is that we have to wait until she stops giving me dreams," I told them in a whisper. "It stinks when you have to wait for the enemy to attack before you can do anything about it." The other three nodded.

"But at least we can bring Aelita to earth, if need be," Ulrich said, logically, using a hushed voice. He looked at me, frowning thoughtfully. "Do you think she'd be able to use some of her power on earth?"

Odd looked at his roommate, eyebrows raised. "She was born with it, unlike us little earthlings…"

I shrugged. "Possibly. I don't know."

"You've never asked, right?" Yumi asked, grinning. I just gave her a look and sank back into my seat. For a little while we sat in silence. Yumi rested her head on Ulrich's shoulder, and to all signs, went to sleep. Odd had taken out one of his many GameBoy games, and was playing it like a madman, muttering to himself as he did so. Me? I just looked out the window, thinking on Ulrich's question about Aelita. Could she use her powers on Earth?

And there was another thing: I hated waiting. My fists clenched as I thought of it: here I was, going on a field trip, when Gilis, or X.A.N.A., could be planning something horrible to do Earth, or Aelita, and I couldn't do anything about it! Something needed to happen, and fast.

What about Sissy? I scowled; she could certainly hear things when she wanted to. We had to be more careful. If Sissy found out about Lyoko…I shuddered. It would be impossible to keep her quiet about something like that-

"Jeremie? We're here."

I blinked, realizing somebody was talking to me. Looking up, I saw Odd, now standing, waiting to find a way to squeeze in with the line of kids getting off the bus. I nodded thanks, and Odd grinned.

"What were you thinking about?"

I smiled wryly. "Shutting down a computer," I told him. "A super computer." I saw Yumi, Ulrich and Odd exchanged raised eyebrows.

"C'mon, Sergeant Jeremie," Ulrich said, giving me a fake salute. "Lets go learn."

I rolled my eyes, and joined them as we filled off the bus, into a very cool looking bay area, all chrome and silver. Odd whistled.

"This is awesome, dude. Einstein, your room should look like this."

"If I had a million dollars, it would," I told him, he, and the other two, laughed.

"Come, now children. Follow me, and we'll get you your guides," called the principal from the front of the crowd of kids.

"_Children_!" the four of us echoed softly, exchanging looks, as we followed the throng.

"God, we're fifteen," Yumi whispered. "Well, fourteen and fifteen," she amended, grinning sheepishly at Odd and me who were ninth grade, not tenth. Ulrich was in our grade, but only because he failed seventh.

I glared half-heartedly at her. "I'm almost fifteen," I told her. "In a month." Odd snorted.

"You explained birthdays to your dear Princess yet?"

I smiled and blushed slightly at the same time. "I don't have too. She knows what they are; only sometimes, they were called turns. Or _tuirna_," I added, trying to pronounce the word in Aelita's old language.

Yumi looked surprised. "That's-"she lowered her voice with a glance at Sissy, who was a little ways away "-Aelita's language, right?" I nodded.

"You gonna teach us some or what?" Ulrich asked, grinned. "I wanna know something in that mouthful. Something doesn't sound like German." He made a face. "Just cause my family's originally from Germany doesn't mean I gotta like the language."

"At least your parents don't speak in only their first language at home half of the time," Yumi told him, poking him. "They'll never forget my old nickname. _Yumi-san_. It means 'little Yumi.'"

Odd sniggered. "It sounds like something from Karate Kid," he said, and Yumi hit him over the head. Ulrich and I exchanged glances. It was gonna be a long day.

(In Lyoko –Aelita-Mountain Region)

Standing in the tower, I sighed, tapping the holo-board in front of me.

"Courtiers…royal families before Mother's…where is it!" I half-growled in frustration. "Mountain region…no…no…ah-ha! Guards!" I smiled as I finally found what I was looking for, and the faces, and bios of the forty-three guards that had ever guarded the Mountain Region fortress popped up before me.

"Hello, Aelita."

I spun, an eerily familiar, yet not familiar voice sounding behind me.

A woman stood there. She looked somewhat like me: same hair, same height, pointed ears…very different outfit. She smiled at me, and began to walk forward. I immediately put an invisible guard up: if she touched me, she wouldn't like what she found. I couldn't trust anyone in Lyoko I had never seen before. Especially now. None of my kind still lived except me.

I kept my face emotionless, staring the woman in the eyes. To my kind, it was both a silent challenge, and a warning. The woman seemed to understand, and stopped coming forward.

"I understand you apprehensiveness, young woman, but only to a point. You don't even know who I am."

I didn't answer, though I gave the slightest of smirks. She was quite wrong about that one. I had, after all, listened closely to each of Jeremie's descriptions of Gilis.

"Do you know why I am here? You, of all people, shouldn't be alone. The enemy is ever looking for you. You and your friends. How are you to know that they are safe?"

_Jeremie!_ My rebellious mind yelled. I fought the sudden fear down, maintaining my calm features. The woman now openly smirked.

"You do that quite well, Princess, Daughter of Relinda, last queen of Lyoko. You could still become a queen." She smiled warmly. "That Jeremie of yours could be a king. A very strange young man…a very active imagination too, when it comes to dreams…"

The next moment, the woman found herself blown against the far wall of the tower with a shriek. A shriek of pain, I realized, my suspicions quite right.

A cold fury had boiled up inside me. I finally shred my emotionless expression, striding over to pick the woman up by the front of her red dress.

"If you ever, ever even taunt me about Jeremie's dreams again, you will know the digital void," I snarled, my face very close to hers. "Even you, Gilis, who could never pass for one of my people, should know what that is. Darkness. Forever. Death, in the most human, and Lyoko sense possible. Deletion."

Gilis jerked out of my hold, her eyes now a dark scarlet. That failed to frighten me. She leered at me, keeping well out of my reaching distance. "As if you, rebellious _Princess_ Aelita, would have the heart to do that," she said, a cruel smile on her lips.

"I would," I told her, building as much power as I could without singing. "Believe me, Gilis, I would. You threaten my friends, you threaten me. And as you can feel pain, that is most unfortunate."

Gilis smirked again, that scarlet glow in her eyes brightening. "The pain of the heart is far stronger than any pain of the flesh, Aelita. Your Jeremie knows so-"

My power shot out to hit her again, but at the last second, Gilis sent up a flickering shield that defected my power-though barely. I stumbled, but caught myself. Gilis was no fighter of magic. I could see surprise hidden deep in those soulless eyes.

"Yes, I can fight," I told her, sneering in spite of myself. "Your main weapon is fear, Gilis," I said, and watched her form begin to fade.

Gilis just smiled. "You are changing, Princess," she told me, her voice strangely gentle. "I leave, but only for a short while. Give your Jeremie my regards." She disappeared, and I fell to my knees, suddenly drained from the large use of power. I hadn't done _that_ in a long time.

I lifted my head, shivering. The enemy had found me. It would be a matter of time before it began. I couldn't keep this fearless-Princess-Aelita-Magic-Warrior mask up for long.

My mind mulled over Gilis's words. Strangely enough, she hadn't been the threat I thought she would've been. _The pain of the heart is far stronger than any pain of the flesh, Aelita…_ I shook those words out of my head. I knew that. Gilis had underestimated me. I could not do the same. It would be a very deadly mistake.

_Where are the others?_ I asked myself suddenly, panicking.

_Field trip…_I sighed in relief, remembering what Jeremie had told me. They'd be safe. X.A.N.A. didn't know, or he would have surely attacked the chemical plant by now. There were no pulsations. Just Gilis. _And knowing Gilis_, I thought, smirking slightly, _she would have boasted about it, if an attack was going on. _

"Aelita!"

I jumped, and looked around wildly, thinking Gilis may have come back.

"Aelita, it's Jeremie. What's going on? You've been unreachable for half-an-hour, and there's something going on here."

I froze, eyes wide. "X.A.N.A.?"

Jeremie's face, in my mind's eye as it was, looked uncomfortable.

"Not exactly. We…ah…I need to materialize you. Again."

"Why?"

Jeremie scowled. "For your safely. I've made a decision. I'm almost done with the anti-virus for you, and once I finish it, you just have to be in the scanner, not Lyoko itself. Gilis has been to Lyoko."

I smiled dryly. "Yes. She and I had a little chat. She must have blocked the connection which talking to me, thinking I might call for help."

Jeremie raised an eyebrow. "Chat, huh? Seems to me there're traces of power usage on your bio-life-point card. What'd you do, blow her off the face of Lyoko?"

I frowned. "Lyoko doesn't have a face."

Jeremie smiled. "It's an expression. Anyway…"

"Yes, I did use my power. A lot of it, which I am regretting. But she, I believe is regretting threatening the five of us, and mocking me about you having those dreams. She underestimated me and I got angry."

Jeremie shuddered. "I bet. Anyway, where are you? Wait-dumb question. How fast can you get the devirtualization tower?"

"You still haven't explained why…"

Jeremie sighed, his face suddenly urgent. "Aelita, if you can use your powers on Earth, X.A.N.A. won't have a chance at hurting us. That's why I need to materialize you a.s.a.p. The more time on Earth before he, or Gilis, attacks again, the better."

_Use my powers on earth? _I gapped at him, as hundreds of possibilities came into my mind.

"Where are you, anyway?"

Jeremie glanced around nervously. "The men's restroom at the Chem. Plant. We leave in ten minutes. It takes about fifteen for us to get back to school, and five for the four of us to get to the factory. Will that give you enough time, Princess?" He smiled, and my heart flipped-flopped.

"Uh, defiantly," I answered, blinking. Jeremie nodded.

"I'll see you later then," he said, and I winked in spite of myself. He, to my surprise, blew me a kiss, then disappeared. I exited the tower immediately, my mind whirling with ideas on power-usage on Earth.

I never saw the red-clad figure watching me from the top of the tower, a bronze globe held in one hand.

Dun, dun, dun…lol. So, what'd ya think, my dear readers? Please review, and there is STILL MORE TO COME! (just to warn ya, this is a LONG story…we're just getting started…)


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